Improvement in sewing-machines



W. W. ALLEN an J.M0LYNEUX.

SEWING MACHINE.

No. 27,944. Patented Apr. 17, 1860.

y UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

XVM. W. ALLEN AND JAMES MOLYNEUX, OF BORDENTOVN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORSTO TI-IEMSELVES AND JOHN L. MCKNIGHT, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 27,944, dated April 17,1860.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WM. WV. ALLEN and JAMES MOLYNEUX, of Bordentown, inthe county of Burlington and State of. New Jersey, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines and Feed- Motions forthem; and we do hereby declare that the same are described andrepresented in the following specification and drawings.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our improvements, wewill proceed to describe their construction and operation, referring tothe drawings, in which the same letters indicate like .parts in each ofthe l figures.

Figure l is a front elevation of our improvements, with such other partsas are necessary to understand them. Fig. 2 is an elevation of one side.Fig. 3 is Aa plan or top view, and Fig. 4 the feeding apparatus with oneside of the box removed.

The nature of our invention and improvements in sewing-machines consistin making the pivot of the feeding-wheel with an opening through it,through which the needle may be threaded whether the same is arrangedabove or below the cloth; also, in a feeding circle or wheel with teethin each direction, operated by a two-armed pawl and toggle with aspring-link.

In the accompanying drawings of our iinprovements in sewing-machines,and in the y feed-motion for them, A is the base or plate upon which thematerial to be sewed is laid.

v B is a stand, which may be made in the form shown, or in such otherform as will answer the purpose, and is firmly fastened to the base A.The upper portion of the stand B is perforated for the shaft B', whichturns freely in it, and may be turned by the crank B2, or by a pulleyand band. The face of the stand Bhas a circular recess in it for theplate C, which turns in it, being fastened to the shaft B, to carry thecrank-pin c, which is fastened in the plate c, to traverse theneedle-bar E by working in the slot b across the needle-bar. The

needle-bar D is made in the form shown in the drawings, and carries theneedle c, which is clamped against its lower end by the bolt e. Theneedle-bar D traverses in scores in the bars E and F, fastened to theface of the stand B, as shown in the drawings; and the rod C,

which has the feeding apparatus fixed at its lower end, is arranged toturn and traverse in the ends of the bars E and F. The feeding apparatusis pressed against the cloth, being sewed by the coiled spring H, underthe bar E, and around the rod G, acting against the nut I on the rod,which nut may be turned to lessen or increase the pressure on the cloth.The feather J in the rod G is fitted to a score in the end of the bar F,to prevent the rod from turning, unless the rod is raised so as to bringthe feather above the top of the bar. The lever K vibrates on the yokeL, which fits a score in the rod G, to lift it with the feedingapparatus, so that it can be turned away from the needle. As the lever Kis raised the end of it works on the top of the bar E, and the plate M,fastened to the bar, holds the lever and yoke to the rod G. The rod Ghas a square foot at its lower end, shown at d, Fig. 4, to which thesides f f are fastened, between which some parts of the feed-motionwork.

The feed-motion, which I will now describe, consists of the metal circleg, with teeth on its periphery. The teeth on one half of its width maypoint in one direction and on the other half in the other direction, soas to adapt them to the pawls h h', one of which turns it one way andthe other the other way, as required by the operator. rIhis circle gturns freely on the circle g', which is fastened to the side fand to theblock g2, which connects it to the side f. (See Fig. 2.) rIhe pawls hh', Fig. 4, vi-

brate on the pin i, fastened in the slide lc, which slide traverses onthe pin p in the block g2, and is pressed back by the spiral spring onthe pin. The lever N vibrates on a screw in the bar F, and has the pin Pin its lower end, which pushes the slide 7c and pawls to turn thefeed-circle g when the upper end of said lever N is raised by the tappetQ on the shaft B. (Shown by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2.) The tappet Qis so placed as to move the feed and traverse the cloth when the needleis drawn out of it. The slide 7c has a crooked arm on .it lying againstthe side f, as shown at q, Fig. 4, and the cam r, which is turned by thecrank s on the back side ofthe box, acts against the crooked arm q, soas to adjust the distance the slide is pushed back by the spring andvary the feed-motion to make the stitches longer or shorter, asrequired. The pawls h and IL are not both in gear at the Vsame time; buteither may be thrown out or into action at pleasure without stopping themachine, so as t0 reverse the feed-motion while the machine is ruiming.To effect this there are two togglelinks on the front of the side f,which vibrate freely. The lower link, t, has a pin in it, which works inthe slot u and between the shanks of the pawls, so whenv the toggle isin the position shown in Fig. l the pin presses against the under sideof the pawl 7L and holds it from the circle g, and at the same timeholds the pawl h against the circle g, the link t being held up by aspiral spring in the link o, which vibrates on the pin x. Then theoperator desires to reverse the feed, he moves the link t to theposition shown by dotted lines in Fig. l, which carries the pin in thelink from the pawl zy to the pawl 7M, pressing it from the circle andcarrying the pawl It to the circle, so as to turn it in the oppositedirection and reverse the feed. There is a small piece, w, fastened tothe circle f/, which projects down by the side of the circle g, toholdthe cloth down and to prevent it from being drawn up by thencedle.

The circle R is arranged to turn freely on the stationary circle R',which is fastened to the stand S on the under side of the base A, so asto hold the circle R right under the circle g, which will press thematerial sewed against it so that the friction of the material will turnthe circle R. If, however, it should be desirable to operate the circleR with a positive motion, a cam, T, may be arranged to operate a lever,as shown in Fig. 5, and traverse the pawls V,so as to turn the circle Rin either direction, as may be required, the toggle Y being arranged tochange the pawls in a manner-simil ar to that in the feed-motionheretofore described, and the end of the lever WV is cam-shaped, so thatby turning it the traverse of the pawls is varied so as to make long orshort stitches. The circle R maybe raised or lowered by turning thescrew that holds the stand S. Ve are aware that, instead of the circleg, a wheel may be used turning on a pivot in an arm; but we prefer thecircles g and g with an openi ng through them, through which the needlemay be threaded without turning the feed-motion ax Yay from the needle;but whenever it is desirable for any cause to turn the feeding-circleaway from the needle it may be donc by raising the feather J out of thescore, when the feed-motion may be swung around out of the way, so as toallow free access to the needle, and swung back again when desired.

Although we think we have constructed our improvements in the best formthat we have devised, we contemplate that skillful artizans may varythem to suit the circumstances under which they may wish to use themwithout detracting from the principles or merits of the improvementswhich we have invented, and that the needle-bar may be made with twoprongs to carry two needles-that is, one needle on each side of thefeeding-circles, so as to sew two rows of stitches at the same time;also, that an arm may extend from the needlebar to operate thefeed-motion, instead of the tappet described; and if two :needles areusedthatis, one on each side of the feeding-circlesit will be desirableto have another piece like fw on the opposite side of the circle toprevent the needle from drawing up the cloth being sewed, also, that theneedle-bar may be traversed by a cam, either grooved or otherwise,instead of the crank-pin described. And we further contemplate thatfeed-motions different from ours may be liXed at the lower end of a rod,which may be raised and swung around away from the needle.

Although we have not shown a looping device, or any device to carryanother thread, yet we expect a shuttle or needle carrying a thread maybe used below the cloth sewed, so as to form stitches by theinterlocking of two threads, or that a hook or some other apparatus maybe used -below'the cloth sewed, so as to form a link-stitch with asingle thread; and, further, we contemplate that when two needles areused on the top of the cloth a shuttle or needle may be used under thecloth in connection with one of them and a hook or some loopingapparatus in connection with the other needle, so as to sew two rows ofstitches at the same time, one row by the interlocking of two threadsand the other row by linking a single thread.

XVe find our improved rolling feed to be a great advantage in sewingsoft, thick, spongy materials, as it .rolls them under smoothly withoutcrimping or ruffling'them up, and does the work much better than thefeed-motions heretofore used. Besides, our improvements for reversingthe feed without stopping the machine enables us to save one-third ofthe time or work one-third faster in quilting and stitching.

Ve believe we have described and represented our improvements insewing-machines so as to enable any person skilled in the art to makeand use them.

Ve will now state what we desire to secure by Letters Patent, to wit:

Ve are aware that a pad vto hold the cloth down on the feeding apparatushas been arranged to swing around away from the needle. Therefore we donot claim a swinging pad 5 but Ve claim- A circle with teeth on itsperiphery to feed the cloth or material being sewed, when said circle isarranged to turn on a station ary, rin g th rough which the needle maybc threaded, whether said feeding-circle is arranged above or below thecloth. f

'WILLTAM V. ALLEN. .l AMES MOLYNEUX.

Vitnesses:

THoMAs BENNETT, F. B. GORDON.

